Aris San arrived in Israel in 1957, a 17-year-old Greek boy, Christian, who had no connection whatsoever to the Jewish state.
Why Israel, of all places?
There are several versions and theories, his own and others' (unrequited love, draft dodging, and more), each of which could be true, or not.
What's clear is that he arrived in a country nearing the end of its first decade, still absorbing waves of immigrants from other lands, and boasting two million citizens from a wide range of cultures – half of them already established, and the other half in the process of absorption.
The young and unknown man sought work as a guitarist, and found it in Jaffa, which was then a remote and neglected suburb of the large, vibrant city of Tel Aviv, bustling with commerce and culture.
In Jaffa, the backyard of the big city, a scene of clubs and entertainment unfolded every evening – amidst the remnants of an ancient port with rusting fishing boats and the crime-ridden "HaShetach HaGadol" (Big Area). Between the ruined houses of the "Manshiya" neighborhood and the Muslim neighborhood of Ajami.
The young Greek singer performed every evening in one of the clubs, in a nightly show that also included a magician and a stripper, a harmonica player and a Hungarian singer. The club was initially called: "Mifgash HaSabbalim" (The Porters' Meeting Place) – named so by its founder to serve as a meeting place of the Jewish Salonica immigrants, men from the city of Thessaloniki in Greece, who earned their living as porters.
In a short time, the club became an entertainment spot for men and women, alone or in couples, and was renamed: "Ariana."
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To Ariana came club-goers from families of immigrants from Greece, Bulgaria, and the Balkan countries.
Many of them lived in large communities in Jaffa and throughout the Gush Dan cities – the largest urban area in Israel. Among the men were laborers who engaged in manual work to support their families: porters, fishermen, production workers. They found refuge in the club from a grueling workday and the hardships of existence in the small country. They came to drink some Ouzo, dance Hasapiko, and recall the Rebetiko music familiar to them from childhood.
Aris San gave them a brief hour of solace.
They danced, clapped to the sounds of his guitar playing in a Greek rhythm, and slipped a few Israeli pounds in cash into his pockets from their daily wages. Immigrants like them enjoyed reminiscing nostalgically about the landscapes of their childhood, their mother tongue, memories from the Greek Taverna. The music he played and sang reminded them of the homeland they had left.
Later, slightly more veteran club-goers in the country joined them – middle and upper-class individuals who had made good business deals even before the establishment of the state of israel, drove private cars ("private") and parked them on the dirt paths, very close to the club's entrance. For them, Ariana was an exotic attraction, close to home, close to the sea. A picturesque place that reminded them of stories and customs from distant lands.
Among the new revelers were also senior figures from the Israeli security establishment and high-ranking IDF officers – glorified officers who belonged to the ruling elite.
These senior officials, who grew up on the knees of Hebrew culture, and were seen at theater plays, opera, and official receptions, would take a short break from their nightly routine, and slip away to the abandoned houses near the neglected Jaffa port – to shed their dignified demeanor and feel the pulse of "the common folk."
Some of them used the place to socialize with mistresses, and in the dim lighting, it was easy for them to obscure their identities.
1958 - Aris San from the album "Greek Folk Songs"
To listen and watch on YouTube click here
Aris San, a young man not yet 20, already dreamed big.
Shortly after his arrival in the country, when he had some cash in his pocket, he made contact with the Azoulay brothers.
In a small shop on a street near Jaffa's nightclubs, between the shops of the Bulgarian and Turkish immigrants, the brothers ran a family business selling phonographs and records. From the shop, they also managed a small empire of record production outside the mainstream – recordings of music by the various ethnic communities in Israeli society, recordings that had no chance of being released by the major record companies. Within two years, the Azoulay brothers produced 7 records and EPs for him, which sold well.
They were bought by Jewish immigrant families from Greece – the Salonica immigrants from Greece, his loyal audience, who knew the lyrics and melodies. From them, word of Aris San's music spread to all families of the "Samekh Tetim" – an veteran sector, of which the Greek immigrants were a part.
"Samekh Tetim," or "S.T." for short, is short for the Hebrew phrase "Sefardim Tehorim" (Pure Sephardim). This was a term given to them by the mainstream of Israeli society to differentiate them from regular "Sefardim" – the designation for all Mizrahi communities who came from Islamic countries.
Tens of thousands of Samekh Tetim families lived in Israel – all descendants of families of "expelled Jews from Spain." They arrived from Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, and the Balkan countries, and settled in the Land of Israel, hundreds of years before the Zionist settlement movement began. In the early 20th century, the pioneers from Europe, the "Ashkenazim," arrived in large waves of immigration, founded the "Yishuv HaIvri" (the Hebrew settlement), and established a European culture mixed with influences from the peoples from whom they came – a bit of Russian, a bit of Polish, a bit of German.
The S.T.s were marginalized, and when the state was established, they became a minority.
A minority that accepted the European way of life but did not give up traditional customs – they spoke Ladino among themselves, prayed in synagogues that differed from their "Ashkenazi" brethren, maintained their familiar cuisine with their traditional dishes, and listened to music close to their countries of origin. To the established Samekh Tetim community here, tens of thousands of families of Holocaust survivors from Greece, Bulgaria, and the Balkan countries were added.
Aris San played songs with a Balkan flavor to them, which touched the roots of the forgotten tradition passed down through generations.
The Balkan flavor was also preferred by the Mizrahim, "Bnei Edot HaMizrach" (people of Eastern communities), or "the Sephardim" – veterans and new immigrants alike. The Mizrahim, who were already a large segment of the population, about a third of Israel's citizens, connected to Greek music. It sounded closer to the music they heard in their homelands. Closer to Ottoman and Arabic music, in its embellishments and scales reminiscent of Arabic maqqamat. Aris San's records left Azoulay's shop for distribution throughout the country, along with records and music by Turkish, Egyptian, Moroccan, and Greek singers.
And there was demand for them.
The State of Israel, in its first decade, was a country full of immigrants from Jewish communities all over the world. Not everyone connected to the cultural style that had become established in the country. They wanted something closer to their hearts. To their souls.
Mandovella - Aris San. To listen click on the image
To watch directly on YouTube click here
With a loyal home audience, a club for performances and records, Aris San could leap forward. He did it with virtuosity, like his strumming on the guitar strings.
On this, and more, in the next chapter, at the following link:
This is Chapter Two out of six chapters in A Musical Biography of Aris San – a singer, composer, and original creator, who developed and promoted Mediterranean music in Israel, and paved the way for the breakthrough of "Mizrahi music" in Israel.
For reading all chapters of the series - in the table of contents at the following link:
